r e v i e w : t e n z o - R r e a r u p p e r s t r u t b r a c e
Purchasing:
I paid $75 plus tax & shipping, so the total came out about $88 (seems alot more
than 75 dollars). I got it from Sava's Tire and Wheel in Southern California.
They were pretty friendly, though there was alot of confusion over when
the bar was sent. First they said it they would ship it the very next day. After
a few days, I called them since I hadn't received anything. They then said it was
shipped a little bit ago. Finally, after a week, they said it hadn't even come
in yet for them and it would probably be shipped tommorrow. The next day I got
the bar (??). Oh well, as long as it arrived.
Initial Impressions:
The unit I got is polished, although me thinks it's also available in anodized
red, blue, or purple. It bolts on to the rear upper shock mounting bolts (four
in all).
Initially, I wanted the Neuspeed Rear Upper Strut brace. But the retail is like
$210, so I figure it would be over $150 from a discount place (which is
about how much the DC Sports version goes for). So I opted for
the Tenzo since it was only $75. The finish was good, and the overall quality
seems pretty high. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem very stiff. It doesn't take
too much pressure to make the bar begin to flex. My Neuspeed front strut brace
is rock hard in comparison, although it is shorter. I suspect that the Tenzo
is a generic product with their sticker on it since it looks the same
as the ones in the Hondasport and UPR ads. In fact, I had never heard of
this Tenzo brand until I started seeing it in a few ads. I'm guessing that
they're like Hondasport--all of their products are someone elses with their
sticker slapped across them. If anyone has any ideas about Tenzo, please email
me. Hmmmmmm...I'm thinking about returning it. :(
Installation Comments:
Installation is very easy. I imagine a fixed bar like DC Sports would take
only a few minutes to install; since the Tenzo bar is adjustable, it took
about a half-hour to adjust everything and tighten it down. Probably the
easiest thing I've installed on my car besides a drop in air-filter.
Driving Impressions:
If the bar made any difference, the car does seem to understeer a bit less.
It also seems a bit stiffer in the back when I go up curbs, etc. If anything,
it's not very obvious. (To compare, the Neuspeed front upper strut brace
made a more noticeable difference.) I guess
I'm satisfied with it since it cost only $75. I might opt for the Neuspeed
one later, however. Atleast my trunk looks cool now! :P
r e v i e w : e u r o s p o r t e x h a u s t
Purchasing:
I ordered the exhaust directly from EuroSport
($245 + tax & ship = $278).
They were pretty cool
over the phone. There was always someone to answer the phone, which is nice
as oppossed to some other places which seem to put you on hold forever.
They always returned my calls, too. The exhaust came two days after I ordered
it, as expected. Unfortunately the muffler had been slightly crushed on the
side. So I called them up and UPS to return it, and maybe five days later I
had a replacement in perfect condition. No hassles or anything. Overall I
would say their customer service is very good.
Initial Impressions:
The overall quality appears quite good. The system is a complete cat-back
exhaust with 2" mandrel bent tubing, resonator, dynomax super turbo muffler,
and 3.5" chrome tip. The entire thing is aluminized mild steel.
Although it's not polished or anything like an HKS unit (but who really cares,
especially with it all underneath your car!), the welds are neat and clean.
The chrome tip is quite nice. My only
complaint is that the paint (which is on the welds) seems to chip off pretty
easy. I'm planning on going over it with some high heat spray paint. There
is a one year warranty, however.
Installation Comments:
This is the first part on my car I had someone else install. So I don't
know the details, but there are only a total of five bolts. According
to the installer, he said it was very easy--it took about a half hour.
However, after the exhaust was on, there was a horrible rattling noise
coming from the back. So we put it back on the lift and it turned out
one of the hangers was knocking against the underside of the car. He had to
bend the hangers with pliers to stop the noise. It still rattled some times,
so I eventually tie wrapped a piece of rubber on the hanger to get rid
of the noise.
Damn ugly! was my first impression of how the muffler was positioned. The
muffler, which is of standard super turbo faire, was offset in and offset out,
the offsets being on opposite sides. This forced the muffler to be at an
awkward angle and all sort of crooked, and really low. After some time,
I've gotten used to it, but I don't love it. I stay up sometimes late
at night and wonder why did they design it that way???? I'm thinking
maybe it was to clear the rear suspension, which it does, by the way. But
who gives a $%!# about looks, right? It's all about the performance, right?
Right, guys? Right, guys?
Driving Impressions:
I remember reading somewhere that this exhaust has better clearance than
the stock muffler. That confuses me, because I scrape a lot more than
I used to. This thing has worse clearance than stock, in my
opinion.
Performancewise, the exhaust did seem to give a bit more power, especially
at mid-to-higher rpms. I guess it was as I expected. The system is actually
pretty quiet, which I like. I wish the tone was higher, like a motorcycle,
but it's actually sort of low. Altho not totally low like a greddy.
All in all, I guess I'm satisfied since the exhaust was reasonable and it
fulfilled my expectations. Sure, it's not totally perfect, but I believe
$400 systems like Greddy hit the rear suspension. My first choice would
have been to get a custom exhaust from a local shop, but the only shop around
here that does mandrel bends wanted $600(?!).
